Boxing apparatus for figure toys

ABSTRACT

Each simulated boxer is maintained in an upright position on a rotatable platform by a swingable pedestal which is locked in an upright position through all but two sectors of the circular path of the platform. Two players compete by maneuvering the boxers into position adjacent each other with arms at least partially extended so the arm of one boxer will strike the other boxer during oscillation of the platforms. The struck boxer will fall down only if its supporting pedestal is at one of the sectors where the pedestal is unlocked. The platforms are oscillated by rack-and-pinion arrangement operated by the players.

[ Dec. 23, 1975 1 BOXING APPARATUS FOR FIGURE TOYS [75] Inventors: DenisVernon Bosley, Palos Verdes Peninsula; Alan Ralph Pitkanen, ManhattanBeach, both of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif.

[22] Filed: Jan. 6, 1975 [21] Appl. No.: 538,699

[52] US. Cl. 273/85 B; 46/142 [51] Int. Cl. A63F 9/14 [58] Field ofSearch 273/85; 46/142, 143, 148

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,320,606 11/1919 De 273/901,481,105 1/1924 Levy 273/88 1,569,334 1/1926 Flack 273/87.4

1,657,388 1/1928 Gorman 273/87.4

1,926,980 9/1933 Gorman 273/87.4 2.088,510 7/1937 Frasca 46/1422,638,348 5/1953 Arenson et al. 46/148 2,809,039 10/1957 46/1423,564,764 2/1971 Crosman et a1 46/142 3.845.956 11/1974 Goldfarb et a1v273/85 F 3,856,304 12/1974 Matsumoto 273/85 F 3,864,870 2/1975 Breslowet al. 46/142 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-HarryG. Strappello Attorney, Agent, or Firm-John M. May; Stephen L. King; MaxE. Shirk [57] ABSTRACT Each simulated boxer is maintained in an uprightposition on a rotatable platform by a swingable pedestal which is lockedin an upright position through all but two sectors of the circular pathof the platform. Two players compete by maneuvering the boxers intoposition adjacent each other with arms at least partially extended sothe arm of one boxer will strike the other boxer during oscillation ofthe platforms. The struck boxer will fall down only if its supportingpedestal is at one of the sectors where the pedestal is unlocked. Theplatforms are oscillated by rack-and-pinion arrangement operated by theplayers;

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 of23,927,883

BOXING APPARATUS FOR FIGURE TOYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thebackground of the invention will be set forth in two parts.

I. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally tothe field of boxing apparatus for figure toys and more particularly to anew and useful device for supporting a figure toy in an upright positionon a rotatable platform which may be rotated by a user of the device incompetition with a second user having a similar device supporting anopposing boxer.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art known to applicants islisted by way of illustration, but not of limitation, in separatecommunications to the United States Patent Office. The present inventionexemplifies improvements over this prior art.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the presentinvention to provide a new and useful boxing apparatus for figure toyswhich are maintained in an upright position on a rotatable platformconnected to a suitable rotating means manipulated by a user of theapparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new anduseful boxer toy including means for moving a pair of simulated boxersinto contact with each other.

According to the present invention, a pair of boxers are each releasablysupported by a suitable pedestal means connected to retainer means forlocking the pedestal means in a substantially upright position duringmovement of the simulated boxers along at least one first portion of aboxing path.

The toy includes release means connected to the pedestal means forreleasing the simulated boxers from the substantially upright positionduring movement of the simulated boxers along at least one secondportion of the boxing path differing from said first portion, wherebycontact of one of the boxers by the other of the boxers while the oneboxer is in the first portion of the boxing path fails to score aknock-down and contact of one of the boxers by the other of the boxerswhile the one boxer is in the second portion of the boxing path scores aknock-down.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel areset forth with particularity in the appended claims. The presentinvention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood byreference to the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to likeelements in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a pairof boxing apparatuses for figure toys in operating position with afigure toy connected to each apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, plan view, with parts broken away to showinternal construction, of one of the apparatuses shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, vertical cross-sectional view of a portion of theapparatus shown in FIG. I with a figure toy in position on theapparatus; and

FIG. 5 is a partial, cross-sectional view of the boxing apparatus of thepresent invention with its pedestal in an unlocked position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring again to the drawings,and more particularly to FIG. 1, a pair of figure toys 10, I2 simulateboxers each having at least one arm 14 extending outwardly therefrom andcarrying a simulated boxing glove [6 on the end thereof. Each figure toyI0, 12 is releasably supported in a substantially upright position on aboxing apparatus 18 by a suitable pedestal means 20 pivotally connectedto a rotatable platfonn 22 adapted to be oscillated about a circularpath by an actuating lever 24 slidably mounted in a base member 26.

Users of the devices 18 may maneuver figure toys l0, 12 adjacent eachother while actuating levers 24 to oscillate figure toys l0, 12 so thatthe simulated boxing glove 16 of one figure toy will strike the otherfigure toy. Pedestal means 20 is locked in an upright position in allrotated positions of platform 22 with the exception of two positionswhich are considered to be positions of vulnerability" where pedestalmeans 20 is unlocked so that the figure toy attached thereto will falldown when struck by the other figure toy.

Referring now to FIG. 4, since each boxing apparatus 18 is identical,only the one associated with figure toy 12 will be described in detail.Figure toy 12 is conneeted to pedestal means 20 by a belt 28encompassing the waist 30 of figure toy 12 and including arearwardly-extending portion 32 affixed to the upper end 34 of pedestalmeans 20. The feet 36, 38 (FIG. 1) of figure toy 12 rest on platform 22and are prevented from becoming dislodged therefrom by centrifugal forcewhen platform 22 is oscillated by suitable toe cups, like the one shownat 40 in FIG. 4.

Pedestal means 20 includes a lower end 42 which carries a suitable pinmeans 44 journalled in a bracket 46 affixed to platform 22 adjacent anopening 48 provided therein. The lower end 42 of pedestal means 20 isprovided with a suitable retainer means 52 for locking figure toy 12 ina substantially upright position during movement of figure toy 12 alongat least one first portion of a boxing path defined by the oscillatingpath-of-travel of platform 22 and for releasing figure toy 12 duringmovement thereof along at least one second portion of the boxing pathdiffering from the first portion so that contact of figure toy 12 byfigure toy 10 while figure toy I2 is in the first portion of the boxingpath fails to score a knock-down and contact of figure toy 12 by figuretoy 10 while figure toy I2 is in the second portion of the boxing pathscores a knockdown. Retainer means 52 includes a tab 54 extendingoutwardly from end 42 of pedestal means 20 and an upstanding annular rib56 which may be engaged by tab 54 in all positions of rotation ofplatform 22 except two. In these two positions, annular rib 56 is cutaway as shown at 58, 60 in FIG. 2 so that tab 54 will clear rib S6 andmove to the broken line position shown in FIG. 5 where tab 54 engages astop member 62 depending from platform 22 in opening 48.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, base member 26 includes a housing 64 havinga closed bottom wall 66,

and encompassing, upstanding side wall 68 and an open top 70. Basemember 26 also includes a fixed hand grip 72 connected to housing 64 bya fixed way 74 in which lever 24 is reciprocably mounted.

Lever 24 includes a first end 76, which carries a thumb-engaging member78, and a second end 80, which is provided with a rack 82 and a pair ofoutwardly-extending stop fingers 84, 86. Rack 82 engages a pinion 88depending from platform 22 and rotatably mounted on a post 90 extendingupwardly from bottom wall 66 of base member 26. Lever 24 is biased tothe extended position shown in FIG. 2 by a spring 92 having a first end94, which is affixed to a pin 96 depending from fixed hand grip 72, anda second end 98, which is affixed to lever 24. Stop fingers 84, 86engage reinforcing ribs 100, 102, respectively, which are provided onbottom wall 66 for reinforcing annular rib 56, to prevent spring 92 frompulling rack 82 out of engagement with pinion 88. A child-user may movelever 24 in the direction of arrow 104 (FIG. 2) against the bias ofspring 92 by engaging hand grip 72 with two fingers and thumb-engagingmember 78 with a thumb. Rack 82 will then rotate pinion 88 and will movein the direction of arrow 104 until end 80 of lever 24 bottoms-outagainst side wall 68. It should be noted that annular rib 56 isinterrupted sufficiently to permit end 80 to pass beyond rib 56 whilestraddling a T-shaped member 106 serving as a continuation of rib 56 toprevent pedestal means 20 from moving to its FIG. 5, broken-lineposition. The child-user may then release thumb-grip 78 so that spring92 will rapidly move lever 24 in the direction of arrow I08 causing rack82 to reversely-rotate pinion 88. Thus, lever 24 may be reciprocated tooscillate platform 22 through about 180 in opposite directions.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, platform 22 includes a depending,encompassing side wall 110 which carries an outwardly-extending annularflange 112 adapted to ride on a similar flange 114 provided on side wall68 of housing 64 at open top 70. Platform 22 is prevented from becomingdisengaged from housing 64 by three clips I16, 118, and 120 (FIG. 2)which engage flange 112, as shown in FIG. 4 for the clip 118.

Operation of the boxing apparatus of the present invention will bedescribed in connection with FIG. 1. One child-user may select figuretoy l and another child-user may select figure toy 12. Each child-usermay place his fingers on finger grip 72 and his thumb on thumb grip 78and maneuver his apparatus 18 adjacent the apparatus I8 of the otheruser while reciprocating lever 24 to oscillate platform 22 and itsassociated figure toy so that the arm 14 of one figure toy will strikethe other figure toy. lfa figure toy is struck while tab 54 is over oneof the cut out portions 58, 60, retainer means 52 will release pedestalmeans 20 from its locked position so that the struck figure toy will beknocked down. If, on the other hand, a struck figure toy is in a rotatedposition where tab 54 will engage annular rib 56 or T-shaped member 106,retainer means 52 will remain locked and the struck figure toy willremain in a substantially upright position.

While the particular boxing apparatus for figure toys herein shown anddescribed in detail is fully capable of attaining the objects andproviding the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understoodthat it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment ofthe invention and that no limitations are intended to the details ofconstruction or design herein shown other than as defined in theappended claims which form a part of this disclosure.

Whenever the term means" is employed in these claims, this term is to beinterpreted as defining the corresponding structure illustrated anddescribed in a base member;

a platform member movably connected to said base member;

means for producing relative motion between said base member and saidplatform member;

upright pedestal means hingeably connected to said platform member forproviding a support for a boxer figure toy; and

release means associated with said pedestal means and said base forpreventing hinged motion of said hinged pedestal means when saidplatform is in a first range of positions with respect to said base andfor permitting hinged motion of said pedestal means to a non-uprightposition when said platform is in a second range of positions withrespect to said base,

whereby a boxer figure toy supported by said pedestal means is rigidlysupported in a substantially upright position when said platform iswithin said first range of positions and therefore is invulnerable ifhit, and

whereby said figure toy may fall to a knocked-down position when saidplatform is within said second range of positions and therefore isvulnerable if hit. 2. The improvement as stated in claim I wherein saidrelative motion is oscillatory and said release means comprises:

an annular rib upstanding from said base member beneath said platform,said annular rib having at least one uninterrupted portion defining saidfirst range of positions and at least one interrupted portion definingsaid second range of positions; an opening in said platform adjacent thelower end of said pedestal means; and a tab on said lower end of saidpedestal means, said LII tab extending through said opening in saidplatform and into sliding engagement with said annular rib, whereby saidtab and said rib cooperate to lock said boxer figure toy in saidsubstantially upright position until said tab reaches an interruptedportion of said rib.

3. The improvement as stated in claim 2 wherein said annular rib has atleast two interrupted portions defining two distinct regions ofvulnerability.

4. The improvement as stated in claim I wherein:

said base member has an upstanding post provided thereon; said platformis rotatably mounted on said post; and said means for producing motioncomprises a lever and gear means for oscillating said platform.

5. The improvement as stated in claim 4 wherein said lever and gearmeans further comprises a spring connected to a lever for rapidlyreturning said lever to a normally-extended position after said leverhas been moved away from said normally-extended position.

6. The improvement as stated in claim 4 wherein said lever and gearmeans further comprises:

a pinion gear on said platform in encompassing relationship with saidpost; and

a rack on said lever in driving engagement with said pinion.

7. Boxing apparatus for use with a removeable figure toy, comprising:

a base member having an upstanding post and an annular rib encompassingsaid post, said rib having at least one interrupted portion;

a lever reciproeably mounted on said base member;

a platform rotatably mounted on said post. said platform being providedwith an opening overlying said rib;

connecting means drivingly connecting said lever to said platform foroscillating said platform when said lever is reciproeated;

a pedestal having an upper end and a lower end;

hinge means swingably connecting said lower end of said pedestal to saidplatform adjacent said opena tab mounted on said lower end of saidpedestal, said tab extending through said opening in said platform andinto sliding engagement with said annular rib,

whereby said tab will retain said pedestal in an upright position untilsaid tab reaches said at least one interrupted portion; and meansprovided at the upper end of said pedestal for removeably attaching afigure toy to said pedestal. 8. A boxing game comprising a pair of theboxing apparatuses as claimed in claim 7, and further comprismg:

a pair of toy boxing figures, each associated with a respective one ofsaid boxing apparatuses; and a pair of belts, one for each of saidboxing figures, for

attaching the respective boxing figure to the respective attachmentmeans provided at the upper end of the respective pedestal, whereby thefirst figure falls to a knockdown position when its respective pedestalmeans swings down from its upright position upon being hit by theoscillating second figure, provided said first figure is in a vulnerableposition at the moment of impact.

1. In a boxing apparatus toy for use with a boxer figure toy, theimprovement which comprises: a base member; a platform member movablYconnected to said base member; means for producing relative motionbetween said base member and said platform member; upright pedestalmeans hingeably connected to said platform member for providing asupport for a boxer figure toy; and release means associated with saidpedestal means and said base for preventing hinged motion of said hingedpedestal means when said platform is in a first range of positions withrespect to said base and for permitting hinged motion of said pedestalmeans to a non-upright position when said platform is in a second rangeof positions with respect to said base, whereby a boxer figure toysupported by said pedestal means is rigidly supported in a substantiallyupright position when said platform is within said first range ofpositions and therefore is invulnerable if hit, and whereby said figuretoy may fall to a knocked-down position when said platform is withinsaid second range of positions and therefore is vulnerable if hit. 2.The improvement as stated in claim 1 wherein said relative motion isoscillatory and said release means comprises: an annular rib upstandingfrom said base member beneath said platform, said annular rib having atleast one uninterrupted portion defining said first range of positionsand at least one interrupted portion defining said second range ofpositions; an opening in said platform adjacent the lower end of saidpedestal means; and a tab on said lower end of said pedestal means, saidtab extending through said opening in said platform and into slidingengagement with said annular rib, whereby said tab and said ribcooperate to lock said boxer figure toy in said substantially uprightposition until said tab reaches an interrupted portion of said rib. 3.The improvement as stated in claim 2 wherein said annular rib has atleast two interrupted portions defining two distinct regions ofvulnerability.
 4. The improvement as stated in claim 1 wherein: saidbase member has an upstanding post provided thereon; said platform isrotatably mounted on said post; and said means for producing motioncomprises a lever and gear means for oscillating said platform.
 5. Theimprovement as stated in claim 4 wherein said lever and gear meansfurther comprises a spring connected to a lever for rapidly returningsaid lever to a normally-extended position after said lever has beenmoved away from said normally-extended position.
 6. The improvement asstated in claim 4 wherein said lever and gear means further comprises: apinion gear on said platform in encompassing relationship with saidpost; and a rack on said lever in driving engagement with said pinion.7. Boxing apparatus for use with a removeable figure toy, comprising: abase member having an upstanding post and an annular rib encompassingsaid post, said rib having at least one interrupted portion; a leverreciprocably mounted on said base member; a platform rotatably mountedon said post, said platform being provided with an opening overlyingsaid rib; connecting means drivingly connecting said lever to saidplatform for oscillating said platform when said lever is reciprocated;a pedestal having an upper end and a lower end; hinge means swingablyconnecting said lower end of said pedestal to said platform adjacentsaid opening; a tab mounted on said lower end of said pedestal, said tabextending through said opening in said platform and into slidingengagement with said annular rib, whereby said tab will retain saidpedestal in an upright position until said tab reaches said at least oneinterrupted portion; and means provided at the upper end of saidpedestal for removeably attaching a figure toy to said pedestal.
 8. Aboxing game comprising a pair of the boxing apparatuses as claimed inclaim 7, and further comprising: a pair of toy boxing figures, eachassociated with a respective one of said boxing apparatuses; and a pairof belts, one for each of said boxing figures, for attaching therespective boxing figure to the respective attachment means provided atthe upper end of the respective pedestal, whereby the first figure fallsto a knockdown position when its respective pedestal means swings downfrom its upright position upon being hit by the oscillating secondfigure, provided said first figure is in a vulnerable position at themoment of impact.